Crimped-bottle-cap remover.



s. T. WHITAKER. CRIMPED BOTTLE CAP REMOVER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I8. I915- 1 ,267, 1 52. Patented May 2], 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL T. WHITAKER, OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF FIFTY-ONE ONE- HUNDBEDTHS TO RALPH B. SMALL, OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA.

CRIHPED-BOTTLE-CAP REMOVEB.

Application filed December 18, 1515. Serial No. 67,868.

Toallwho'm z'tma concern."

Be it known t at I, SAMUEL T. WHIT- AKER, a citizen of the United States, resid- I ing at Columbus, in the county of Muscogee and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crimped- Bottle-Cap Removers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable other skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in tools for removing crimped caps from bottles, and has for its primary ObJGCt, the reduction in cost of production and the reduction of space occupied.

With this and other objects in view as will in part be rendered obvious and in part be stated, the invention comprises certain novel constructions, and combinations as will be subsequentl rendered clear and thereafter specifical y pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is an edge view of a tool embodylng the features of the present invention and illustrated as disposed in the 'posi tion assumed at the beginning of a bottle cap removing operation, a fragment of a pottle and its cap being indicated in dotted mes.

Fig. 1 is a similar view of the same not in its operatin position.

Fig. 2 is a rent elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a 'view similar to Fig. 2 of a modified embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the tool seen in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a further modified embodiment.

Fi n6 is a longitudinal section taken on the p ane indicated by line 66 of Fig. 5.

It is the common and well known practice to provide relative lar e, somewhat cumbersome and proportionfily expensive tools for removing crimped caps from bottles which necessitates the retention of such tool for repeated use, and perhaps most prominent amon this type of tool is that form made of thin sheet metal and cut with some form of notch in its edge to produce a hook likeportion designed to engage the lower edge of the flange of the cap, a portion of the tool extendm far enough to rest edgewise on top of t e cap. Economy has demanded that such a tool be not discarded after first use but retained for subsequent use, and it is one of the objects of the present invention to flproduce a tool which will operate just ase ciently as the larger and more expensive tools but which will be produced at such small cost that it may be once ,used and then thrown away, thus enabling the supplyin of the tool with the bottles.

To this en the present improved tool is formed of sheet metal making up a body '1, but the operating cpart is not notched into the edge of the b0 but is produced by providing a hook sha ed portion 2 stamped outward from the ace of the body and out of the material of the body in position for engagin the lower edge of a crimped cap, as clear y seen in Fi 1. The end ortion of the tool nearer t e book 2 is out at 3 to space the body of the tool from and engage the extremity of the tool 11 on the intermediate portion of the cap w en ap' plied, and for enablin retention of the tool in engagement with -t e neck of the bottle, and also for facilitating positioning the tool at a desirable angle or removing a cap. The opposite end portion of the tool is also bent at 4 to conform to the shape of the neck portion of the bod when carried by the neck, and also for ho ding the fingers to facilitate manipulation of the tool.

In Figs. 3 and 4 is seen-a modified embodiment consisting of exactl the same form of tool made up of the 0d 1' but difl'ering slightly in being provi ed with two hooks 2 instead of a single hook.

InFigs. 5 and 6 is seen a further embodiment wherein the body 1" of the tool is formed with an elongated notch or slot ranging backward from the cap engaging 9 end of the tool, the material struck from the slot being bent into a cap-flange. engaging hook 2".

It is perfectly obvious that numerous other modifications may be reduced, and it will be noted that one o the essential characteristics of the structure resides in the fact that the hook member outstands laterally from the side of the flat tool.-

WhatI claim is 1. A tool for removin crimped caps from bottles comprising a sugstantially flatstrlp benttransversely at one end to provide a bearing portion adapted to enga e a ca and space thestrip therefrom, an a hoo ortion stamped from the stri and extendmg substantially at right angles thereto in the direction of-said bent en a length equal aglproximately of the flange of t hook portion bein end sufficiently to the central portion hook ortion engages 2. tool for removing from bottles comprising a roximately hook shape bod and an ap pro ection e'xten ing tial y at right angles e cap spaced from the lspose the bent end upon of the cap when the and being of to the width to be removed, sai

bent

substantially at stanto the planes of the therefrom sub fiat faces of the body, the cap engaging end 15 portion of the body being 0 set to cause the bod to stand up slightly above the cap when t e end portion thereof is engaging the same, and .the hook shaped ro eotion being proportioned to, during sue engage- 20 ment, extend beneath the edge of the cap. In testimon whereof I affix my signature in presence o two witnesses.

SALMUEL T. WHITAKER.

Witnesses R. M. PARKER, M. K. Dnmnmr. 

